“Then, screw Andy.”
My eyes widened, and I stared up at the ceiling again, imagining my mum’s face there staring down at me, smugger than ever, with a big “I told you so” written in her gaze.
“Let me deal with him,” Nina added. “You’ve got how long left of your holiday?”
“Two days.”
“Then, get off the phone and go find your girl.”
“Nina, I?—”
“I love you,” she cut in, emotion thick in her voice. “I love you. James loves you. Despite what you think, Andy and Lillie love you. You’re our family, and you have been for so many years now. I need you to start believing that. I need you to stop punishing yourself for everything out of your control. Can you do that for me, Henry? Can you?”
There were so many responses I wanted to give her. So much I wanted to say.
I’d never spoken to her this way before, and I wondered why the hell I’d waited so long. Why I’d cut myself off from allowing myself to feel since the moment I’d heard the words:Neither one of them survived.Because I suddenly felt more awake than ever before, and I never wanted to go into hibernation again.
And there was only one person on this planet to thank for that.
The woman currently on this same island, potentially only a few doors away, wondering how our story was going to end, too.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Phoebe
Henry
Where are you?
Phoebe
In my room.
Iwanted to ask him if he was okay, how he felt, and whether or not I’d had my last kiss with him without even knowing it. I had so many questions, so many unanswered thoughts and worries floating around inside me, I could barely think straight. He’d held me on the boat like he never wanted to let me go, and I didn’t want him to. Henry kept touching my face, staring into my eyes, running his hands over my shoulders, down my arms, across my body, as though he’d been trying to memorise every part of me before hehadto let me go.
Part of it felt like reverence, the other like goodbye.
Henry
Let me in.
He was here.
My heart rocketed at even the idea of it, and I rushed to open the door to see him standing there as handsome as ever, still wearing the same shorts and T-shirt he’d been wearing when we’d parted ways. I had no idea how much time had passed. An hour? Two? Taking him in now, it felt as though I’d been away from him for a year, I craved him so badly.
“Hey,” he said before he stepped forward, pushed his hands into my hair, and pulled me into a kiss so frantic I could barely breathe. He spun me around, and the door slammed shut behind us as I gave myself over to him, not knowing who needed it most, only knowing that it felt right to be in his hold again, letting him take me wherever he needed us to go.
“Where are the girls?” he asked breathlessly against my mouth.
“Out. For the night.”
“You didn’t want to go with them?”
“Not if there was a chance you’d come find me to do things like this.”
He pulled away from me slowly, running his thumbs over my cheeks as he took me in. “Were they okay with you about everything?”
I nodded, lashes fluttering. “They said they knew what was going on, and they didn’t want to confront me about it in case it made me stop having fun with you.”
